Professional Development – Career Transition
Hybrid Lunch Program

Dan Amend – President, ACRE Investments

Dan Amend is a 25+ year veteran of SV CRE Development & Construction. In 2008, he was instrumental in launching Toeniskoetter Construction. He was promoted to president & CEO of Toeniskoetter Construction in 2016, dividing his time 50-50 between it and Toeniskoetter Development. He became President of Toeniskoetter Development February 2021. He recently formed ACRE Investments, a firm specializing in investments, consulting, and management. Dan is a Past President and current member of the NAIOP SV Board of Directors and is also a board member at the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. Dan is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering and learned to appreciate California’s great weather!
 

Michelle Bravin- Vice President, Hughes Marino

Michelle joined the Hughes Marino team after nearly 17 years of her career as a top furniture consultant and partner at KBM Hogue. Over her career, Michelle has built strong relationships and inked massive deals with some of the Bay Area’s most notable businesses like Google, Tesla and Cisco. Michelle’s hands-on approach combined with her ability to understand her clients’ brand, culture, and vision allows her to advise her clients both on how to best utilize the space they currently have and plan for what they might need in the future as they grow. Michelle is dedicated to ensuring that every one of her clients always receives the highest level of service every step of the way in their real estate project. When Michelle is not hustling around the Bay Area meeting with clients, you can find her spending time with her boyfriend, Nathan, and dog, Zoe. Michelle is a San Diego native and went to University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She played field hockey for the Bears and remains active in the Cal Alumni community. Michelle is still active in US Women’s field hockey and enjoys spending time on the water and at the gym. Michelle is passionate about volunteer and non-profit work, serving on the board of an art non-profit, Djerassi.
 

Mya Galindo - Insight Analyst, Avison Young

Mya is a current Insight Analyst at Avison Young in the Silicon Valley/San Jose office. Before joining Avison Young, Mya attended UCLA, earning a Bachelor’s in geography with a minor in GIS. Mya joined CREW SV as a senior at UCLA and is a current member of CREW SV and a member of the Sponsorship Committee. Mya grew up in Sunnyvale and looks forward to a career in CRE with plans to move to brokerage.
 

Diane Armstrong - Vice President, Avison Young, Moderator

In 2018 Diane joined Avison Young’s Silicon Valley/San Jose office after working as a Vice President in brokerage with Colliers International. She concentrates on Tenant and Landlord Representation in Tech/R&D, Industrial and Office leasing and sales. Prior to her full-time CRE career, she was with IBM Corporation in San Francisco as a Systems Engineer and Sales Representative before becoming a sales and marketing executive for a number of Silicon Valley technology companies including 3Com, Saros, Softbank, and IDG WorldExpo Diane currently serves as the Sponsorship Director for CREW SV, is a CCIM Designate & Member, and Member of CHIEF - the executive women leaders private network. She is also a member of Stanford Golf and San Francisco Golf Club….where you can find her when she’s not working!.
 

PLATINUM

We create spaces that inspire and transform. 

One Workplace doesn’t just create spaces, we put them to work. We don’t measure them in square feet, but by the possibilities they create for our clients. From a better way to express your culture, to a better way to work, to learn or to heal – the possibilities are endless. 

Better space always solves a problem. Our solution is simple. We believe together is better. Combining business strategists, designers, furniture, construction, ancillary and audiovisual specialists with project managers, customer support, delivery and installation under one roof simplifies a complicated process - and it makes the workplace better.  It’s a unique process, and it’s made us one of the most successful interior solutions companies in the US. 

Each project starts with collaboration and ends with trust. For us, this is a big deal. Better spaces are built with better relationships - our most valuable assets. That means finding an amazing way to work together with our clients and partners because when we co-create, remarkable things happen. Everything we do links back to one simple philosophy:  

We’re better together.

GOLD

In 1976, Ken Hankins, Ed Miller and Jim Harper had a vision to form a service company that held client partnership and ownership commitment as key values to its operation – and with that, HMH was established. Today, with the evolution of ownership, staff, and services, HMH continues to embrace these same values as key components of success. HMH provides a collaborative and comprehensive approach to the design process. Whether we are providing multi-faceted services or specific discipline support for a project, our team approach adds value. With over forty-five years of private and public project experience in the Bay Area and California, HMH’s contributions have resulted in project success. With a staff of more than 90 professionals, we have the ability to provide support on projects of any size. Our services include: Land Use Entitlements & Land Planning, Civil Engineering, Public Works, Landscape Architecture, Land Surveying, and Stormwater Compliance. Our working knowledge of local policies and the political landscape enable us to provide unmatched guidance for our private clients, enabling successful navigation through the project entitlement and approval process. We have extensive design experience in new development and urban infill redevelopment and can tailor an approach to meet the needs of the client. Our comprehensive approach provides project envisioning with technical compatibility to create innovative and cost effective solutions. Our involvement in significant local public projects includes four light rail transit extensions, several highway and interchange projects, local roadway and utility improvements, and major expansions of San Jose International Airport. Also, continued involvement in the design of public parks, multiuse trails and bicycle facilities helps provide the multi-modal connections for the growing transportation needs of the Bay Area. HMH takes great pride in our proven performance record of providing high quality professional services needed for project success. We are committed to our values, our ability to respond quickly with appropriate solutions, and our capacity to bring the required balance of time, quality, and budget to a project.